James D. Lackie

Jimmy has four decades of experience in venture capital, private equity and alternative investment management. He has served as a director, board observer, consultant and/or investor in start-up and later stage businesses across multiple sectors including: specialty retail, medical devices, finance, real estate, insurance and information technology. Jimmy actively manages holdings in various hedge funds and was a co-founder of The ESO Fund in 2012.

Jimmy is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Youth Villages, Inc. of Memphis, TN, having served on their board since 2005. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Memphis Foundation. Jimmy served on the Board of Trustees of the Campbell Foundation. He is an Eagle Scout and served as the President of the Chickasaw Council of the Boy Scouts of America (2013-2015). He is also a recipient of the Silver Beaver Award (2017) and the NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award (2017).

Jimmy attended the University of Memphis on a football scholarship (1973-’76) graduating cum laude in Finance in 1976.

Stephen M. Roberts

Stephen has extensive experience in sourcing, structuring, and managing equity investments. He has been involved in all aspects of entrepreneurial businesses, including line management, capital allocation, personnel management, sales, and marketing. For the first 10 years of his career, Stephen was a transactional lawyer. He subsequently began investing in and operating cellular telephony properties and investing in venture backed companies. Stephen has made direct equity investments and/or served as a director in businesses in the telecommunications, energy, medical devices, insurance, and information technology sectors. Stephen graduated cum laude from the Harvard Law School in 1986 and summa cum laude from Mississippi State University in 1982 and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He is active in the Boy Scouts in the Memphis, TN area and is a member of the Executive Board of the Chickasaw Council of the Boy Scouts.